Shama Sounds Off!: Vikings Stadium Raises Bar for U

[BleedGopher]

Vikings Stadium Raises Bar for U
May 25, 2012


Financial support for a new Vikings stadium has been approved by the Minnesota legislature and endorsement is expected today from the Minneapolis City Council. The new facility will generate significant additional revenues for the Vikings, state, city, and local businesses, while also creating jobs for Minnesotans.

There will be many who benefit — but don’t include the Gophers football program in the group of beneficiaries. Yes, the Gophers athletic department can rake in up to $300,000 per game when the Vikings use TCF Bank Stadium for home games during a portion of the construction period for their new facility.

But the Gophers would have been winners five times over if the Vikings didn’t earn approval for a new stadium and instead packed their bags for Los Angeles. If the Gophers had this football market to themselves they would have more fans, financial support and media scrutiny, creating much higher expectations and pressure to put a better team on the field year after year.

Until 1961 when the Vikings started play in the NFL, the Gophers were the only big time football attraction in the state. In the early years of the Vikings franchise the Gophers played in front of sellout crowds, drawing over 60,000 fans to Memorial Stadium. The new pro team in town struggled to attract 40,000 fans.

But by the mid-1960s the Gophers were losing fans and the Vikings were expanding their audience and revenues. With only one exception this has completely been a Vikings state ever since. Lou Holtz arrived as Gophers coach in 1984 and within two years his magic act had not only vastly improved the football product but season tickets were pushing toward 60,000.

The Vikings were losing football games and followers while the Gophers were soaring in popularity during the Holtz era. Vikings coach Les Steckel’s 3-13 season in 1984 prompted Bud Grant to come out of retirement to mastermind not only a better team, but jump-start interest in the franchise.

Holtz left Dinkytown after two years, whistling the Notre Dame fight song while making his way to South Bend where he would coach the Irish to renewed glory for 11 seasons including the 1988 national championship. The Gophers reverted to losing football games and customers—the profile the program has mostly kept in place for more than 40 years.

There are multiple reasons Gophers football has floundered for decades but the presence of the Vikings can be counted among them. The public pressure to have Gophers football be something special lessened with the arrival of the Vikings and has remained minimal compared to before they arrived.

Minnesota won 17 Big Ten football championships and six national championships prior to 1961. The Gophers have one Big Ten title since, sharing the 1967 championship with Purdue and Indiana.

Gophers administrators will maintain publicly, just like their predecessors, that the presence of the Vikings doesn’t have anything to do with their program. Baloney. On Vikings football Sundays the team is followed by millions of Minnesotans. Hundreds of thousands may not know the Gophers are playing on college football Saturdays.

With the spotlight on the Vikings and lousy football at the U, generations of potential Gophers fans have been lost. The pathetic student attendance at Gophers games has something to do with the Vikings, too. It wouldn’t be surprising if a poll of University of Minnesota students showed more of them are Vikings fans than Gophers followers.

This column isn’t about criticizing the Vikings or their fan base. I attended the team’s first game at Met Stadium in 1961 and now cover the team on a regular basis. I “get it” that the NFL is the most popular sport in America and there’s no expectation that will change in the future. The Vikings are one of the league’s stronger brands and the club’s passionate following includes season ticket holders who come to Minneapolis in large numbers from even outside the state.

The new Vikings stadium will be another challenge for the Gophers. The facility is likely to have a retractable roof so outdoor football is no longer an amenity claimed only by the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. The stadium, perhaps the best in college football, will within a few years no longer be the newest football facility in town.

That’s another edge for the Vikings who are in competition with the Gophers for ticket sales, suites, stadium signage, broadcast ratings and fees, sponsorships and merchandising. The best way the Gophers can respond is with a winning team under second-year coach Jerry Kill. He’s a promising leader who could create the best possible scenario for Minnesotans who want to see both the Vikings and Gophers thrive.

While the Vikings watch their new stadium being constructed, public interest in them will be enhanced. The Gophers need to finally become winners or else they will maintain their low profile. If the Gophers didn’t know it before this spring, the Vikings aren’t going away.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!

 

[Go4Broke]

It is hard to argue with anything in the column. I think this quote hits the nail on the head:

"The public pressure to have Gophers football be something special lessened with the arrival of the Vikings and has remained minimal compared to before they arrived."

With most of the attention of football fans in Minnesota on the Vikings there was and is comparatively less attention and demands on the U President and Board of Regents to do what was necessary (and pay the costs) to put a winning football team on the field.

 

[DMB123]

Stupid article. The Gophers have a low profile in this area because they've been average or bad for basically 50 years. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Vikings. Gopher football is treated no different by the fans in this town than any of the other sports teams. T-Wolves, Wild, and Twins all have trouble drawing well when they are losing. Throw in the move to the Metrodome and the University's overall 'don't care about winning football' attutude and this is what ends up happening. The Vikings are in no way hurting the Gophers chances of succeeding on the field or in winning over the fans in this area. The 'U' is solely to blame.

 

[dpodoll68]

Stupid article. The Gophers have a low profile in this area because they've been average or bad for basically 50 years. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Vikings. Gopher football is treated no different by the fans in this town than any of the other sports teams. T-Wolves, Wild, and Twins all have trouble drawing well when they are losing. Throw in the move to the Metrodome and the University's overall 'don't care about winning football' attutude and this is what ends up happening. The Vikings are in no way hurting the Gophers chances of succeeding on the field or in winning over the fans in this area. The 'U' is solely to blame.

Yup. So many want a scapegoat.

 

[FireCosgroveGuy]

Stupid article. The Gophers have a low profile in this area because they've been average or bad for basically 50 years. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Vikings. Gopher football is treated no different by the fans in this town than any of the other sports teams. T-Wolves, Wild, and Twins all have trouble drawing well when they are losing. Throw in the move to the Metrodome and the University's overall 'don't care about winning football' attutude and this is what ends up happening. The Vikings are in no way hurting the Gophers chances of succeeding on the field or in winning over the fans in this area. The 'U' is solely to blame.

The article is correct. The fan base dwindled and negative results followed. All teams have a bad few years but programs with a huge following usually respond. Without the Vikes they'd definitely have much more interest, donors, etc.

 

[oleboy41]

There are about 3 million people in and around the Twin Cities. There are plenty of people to support both teams. Washington supports the Huskies and Seahawks. Pittsburgh supports the Panthers and Steelers. Atlanta supports GT and the Falcons. It can be done and actually our attendance numbers are decent compared to other schools in NFL cities. The difference is that our team has sucked.

 

[DMB123]

The article is correct. The fan base dwindled and negative results followed. All teams have a bad few years but programs with a huge following usually respond. Without the Vikes they'd definitely have much more interest, donors, etc.

That's just not true. If they had been winning over the past 40-50 years they would be as popular as the Vikes. I can't beileve the simplistic thinking of so many people to blame the Vikings for the Gophers troubles. The U did this to themselves, blaming the Vikings is laughable, and that article is a joke.

 

[67frosh]

The Vikes have never been the problem - do the Packers hurt the Badgers or does Iowa State hurt the Hawks? - of course not - the article was full of nothing but excuses...

 

[4four4]

Currently we have 4 major professional teams and 1 major university. My following examples are historical.

A. Football

Vikings win and Gophers lose

B. Basketball

Timberwolves lose and Gophers lose

C. Baseball

Twins win and Gophers win

D. Hockey

Wild lose and Gophers win

The article makes a great point but really it comes down to winning. Win and fans show up regardless of the program/franchise. IMO, past Gophers administration's are one of the reasons Gopher football has had a horrible 40 to 50 years. The new AD better be able to find money because football and basketball need new or remolded facilities.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Let's face it - MN fans are bandwagon jumpers. Each team has a core group of fans, and then there's a lot of people who switch their allegiances depending on which team is winning, or which team is "hot" and generating "buzz."

Whether you're talking about the North Stars, Twins, Gopher FB, Gopher Basketball - it's the same story. Each team has had periods where it started winning, and the fans showed up. But, as soon as the team stopping winning, the fans left. I can remember standing in line to buy standing-room-only tickets for the North Stars when they went on their Stanley Cup run in 1981. A few years later, attendance plummeted, and Norm ("Norm Sucks") Green moved the team to Dallas. Same thing with Gopher Football during the Holtz era - for a short time, going to a Gopher FB game became "cool." Then, Lou left, and suddenly, the Gophs weren't the in thing anymore.

The Vikings are not the problem. If the Gophs want to draw fans consistenly in this market, they need to Win, and they need to somehow convince people that going to a Gopher FB game is fun.

 

[DMB123]

If the Vikes really were hurting the Gophers than why haven't the Wild or T-Wolves hurt Gopher hockey and basketball? Gopher hockey wins, so they draw well. When gopher basketball is winning they sell out every Big Ten game. It's that simple. If the Gopher football team had gone 8-4, 9-3, 8-4 or had seasons similar to that since the stadium opened TCF would be packed every Saturday. I think the Gophers have had just a handfull of above .500 conference records over the past 20 years or so, maybe longer. THAT'S why they are in the position they are in. They have also gone 3-9 the past two seasons. THAT'S why they are in the position they are in. How dare Shama or anyone else blame a pro football team across town for the failures of the U's football program. Excuses, excuses...

 

[Omega015]

If the Vikes really were hurting the Gophers than why haven't the Wild or T-Wolves hurt Gopher hockey and basketball?

NHL+NBA < NFL

 

[josh087]

The article is correct. The fan base dwindled and negative results followed. All teams have a bad few years but programs with a huge following usually respond. Without the Vikes they'd definitely have much more interest, donors, etc.

The article is absolutely correct. Shama isn't saying that without the Vikings the Gophers will be guaranteed to win at a big time level, and with them they are guaranteed to be stuck in mediocrity. But it makes it MORE DIFFICULT due to the many points he made.

Some on this board dismiss all of this Vikings talk as "you think the Vikings hurt the Gophers - therefore, this must be the only reason in your mind why the Gophers suck." Baloney.

Thinking the Vikings are the only reason for the Gophers demise is just as dumb as claiming the Vikings presence has no effect whatsoever on the Gophers.

 

[josh087]

NHL+NBA < NFL

Exactly. The situations are totally different.

Not to mention the fact that recruiting quality hockey players to attend the University of Minnesota is about 50 million times easier than recruiting quality football players to attend the University of Minnesota. The recruiting advantage of that many players in our home state is a perfect example of why you can't say - "Look, the University of Miami can win football national titles with the Dolphins in town, it should be just as easy for the Gophers."

Not saying Gopher football can't ever win a NC, but it is tougher when you have a team in the 2nd most popular sports league in the world playing the same game in the same city as Gopher Football.

 

[mplsbadger]

While it is not an excuse for poor play, I believe there is some truth to the idea that it is difficult to capture the divided attention of the fanbase. It bothers me most with those with a strong U of M affiliation.

Some anecdotal observations,

- My company has about 50 Vikings tickets and a suite, and about 4 Gophers tickets and no suite
- My brother and law has Viking tickets and I have Gopher tickets. Neither of us would ever consider having both. In addition to being really expensive, it would take up more time than most reasonable fans could spend watching football (and get away with - wife, kids, etc.)
- I've known Minnesota undergrads that didn't have Gopher football tickets but owned two nosebleed Vikings tickets (Moss era)
- I've known a bunch of U of M grads who'd rather have Viking tickets than Gopher tickets. They don't seem to feel any obligation to support Gopher Football. Some of them even have hockey or basketball tickets.

All of the above suggest some tension or 'substitution' of one for the other, either due strictly to preference or due to limited budget/time.

I think the non-students / non-alumni are like independent voters - they'll go where the wins are. It's the students and alumni that form the base. While they too are influenced by wins, we just can't have so many of them willing to choose the Vikings over the Gophers rather than in addition to the Gophers. My hope is that a generation that watches football at TCF (win or lose) will be more invested in the program than those whose U of M football experience was dome bound. Time will tell.

 

[DMB123]

The article is absolutely correct. Shama isn't saying that without the Vikings the Gophers will be guaranteed to win at a big time level, and with them they are guaranteed to be stuck in mediocrity. But it makes it MORE DIFFICULT due to the many points he made.

Some on this board dismiss all of this Vikings talk as "you think the Vikings hurt the Gophers - therefore, this must be the only reason in your mind why the Gophers suck." Baloney.

Thinking the Vikings are the only reason for the Gophers demise is just as dumb as claiming the Vikings presence has no effect whatsoever on the Gophers.

Please give one example of why the Vikes make it more difficult for the Gophers to win. Just one.

 

[MNGoldenGophers1]

Everyone knows fan support is a complex issue and a number of those have been posted here. That said, the Vikings do impact the Gophers and to suggest otherwise is ignorance. People have "X" percent of discretionary income to spend on leisure activities. For those who choose sports and in particular football, it is usually one team or the other when it comes to buying tickets. If either team were to leave or fold, it stands to reason many of those fans left without a team would look elsewhere to spend their limited leisure dollars and may likely turn to the remaining team. If the Vikings had packed their bags for LA, Gopher football would have been in a great position to capture much of the leisure dollars freed up by their move not to mention potential new donors to the U's athletic war chest. Instead, both teams will compete against each other for limited leisure spending for football. That's just the way it is.

 

[calminnfan]

The Vikes have had some impact, but the bigger reason for the decline of Gopher football was due to the powers that be at the U who wanted the school to be known for academics and not as a football school. They lessened the emphasis on providing for the program back in the 60s and early 70s.

 

[GophersInIowa]

There are about 3 million people in and around the Twin Cities. There are plenty of people to support both teams. Washington supports the Huskies and Seahawks. Pittsburgh supports the Panthers and Steelers. Atlanta supports GT and the Falcons. It can be done and actually our attendance numbers are decent compared to other schools in NFL cities. The difference is that our team has sucked.

Both Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech had averages below 50,000 last year. Not good examples there.

 

[highwayman]

Let's face it - MN fans are bandwagon jumpers. Each team has a core group of fans, and then there's a lot of people who switch their allegiances depending on which team is winning, or which team is "hot" and generating "buzz."

Whether you're talking about the North Stars, Twins, Gopher FB, Gopher Basketball - it's the same story. Each team has had periods where it started winning, and the fans showed up. But, as soon as the team stopping winning, the fans left. I can remember standing in line to buy standing-room-only tickets for the North Stars when they went on their Stanley Cup run in 1981. A few years later, attendance plummeted, and Norm ("Norm Sucks") Green moved the team to Dallas. Same thing with Gopher Football during the Holtz era - for a short time, going to a Gopher FB game became "cool." Then, Lou left, and suddenly, the Gophs weren't the in thing anymore.

The Vikings are not the problem. If the Gophs want to draw fans consistenly in this market, they need to Win, and they need to somehow convince people that going to a Gopher FB game is fun.

Agree. How many outraged Viking "fans" over the years have railed on and on when a game may be blacked out? "It's not fair! Someone should buy the tickets so the game will be on!" The Vikes have had many years of ebb and flow fans--basically a reflection of their winning and losing. Not as bad as the Gophers, but nearly as unproductive.

The Gophers need to promote their product as a social event, like the old Met tailgating days. $275 for 7 games (less than $40) is a bargain. Vikes are close to an average of $100 a game now. They will be over $100 in the new stadium. With the right marketing and even a relatively decent team, the Gophers can sell out every game with ease...

 

[highwayman]

Both Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech had averages below 50,000 last year. Not good examples there.

And GT has a smallish stadium as well (55,000) and Pitt hasn't played on campus since 1999. Probably do as well as they can.

 

[josh087]

Please give one example of why the Vikes make it more difficult for the Gophers to win. Just one.

The NFL is the 2nd most popular sports league in the world - it gets more media attention than college football. The Gophers and Vikings play in the SAME MEDIA MARKET. This is WAY different than the Badgers/Packers, or Penn State/Eagles, or Wolverines/Lions. Growing up in the Twin Cities (where most of our top talent is), local talent sees the Gophers as 2nd fiddle. They see the NFL as the top prize. Therefore, the top of the top talent is more likely to leave the state to play in a more glamorous program.

2) Less fans = Less revenue = Less you can spend on your program = Greater chance the college team is not successful. Please tell me that you can comprehend how having an NFL team affects the bottom line of a college football team.

3) Only one other team in the Big 10 has to compete with a pro team in town. Not coincidentally, these two teams, over the course of the last 50 years, have had winning percentages at the bottom of the conference. (Yes, I understand that the other program with an NFL team in the same market has won a couple of BT titles in the last 20 years. This proves that you can win with an NFL team in town. But the overall performance of these two teams also proves that it is MUCH TOUGHER to win than your peers over time if you have an NFL team in your market). The other teams in the conference DIRECTLY COMPETING with the Gophers have an inherent competitive advantage over them. Again, if you cannot comprehend that it is a negative to have 10 of the 11 teams you are competing against have an advantage over you, then I don't really know what else to say.

 

[mplsbadger]

The Gophers need to promote their product as a social event, like the old Met tailgating days. $275 for 7 games (less than $40) is a bargain. Vikes are close to an average of $100 a game now. They will be over $100 in the new stadium. With the right marketing and even a relatively decent team, the Gophers can sell out every game with ease...

You said it all. It need to be different, not Vikings Lite.

Ways it is different:
Marching band
Real tailgating
About team, not superstar players
Team belongs to students, alums, state - not owners
Part of Big Ten, NCAA football - more history than NFL
Coach & players accessible
Student section
History of success, favorite sons Naguski, Smith, Grant, Giel...
Songs people actually know the words to
Trophy games
Reasonable prices

Ways it's the same
Piped in music / noise / cheers
Endless ads and promotions
Stadium name
Move toward playoffs
...

 

[RailBaronYarr]

Please give one example of why the Vikes make it more difficult for the Gophers to win. Just one.

I will copy/paste a different post I made, touching on some of josh's points but adding in others. Hope this will help:

"
The market is certainly big enough - there are enough Fortune 500 companies, enough middle-class residents, and plenty of alums of the U to fill the seats and eyes on TV for both programs. That said, a smaller market (I'm thinking in the range of between 100,000 and 500,000 in a 20 mile radius) that doesn't share a pro team (in any sport, but most notably football) absolutely has an advantage for ticket sales and top-to-bottom loyalty to a collegiate program. Here are my reasons:

- They're the only game in town. People want to root for a "hometown team," and in this case they're the only one. The vibrancy of their city or town depends on the success of their team so fans will be more ardent for that program than an NFL (or NBA/MLB/etc) team 100+ miles away. Heck, many people may even seek out a college town like that to live in because they either went to the school or just like that atmosphere of die-hard rabid fans.
- Local media (radio, tv, newspaper, etc) cover them nearly exclusively. Go down to Iowa City/Coralville. It's tough to get the Des Moines Register, but the local paper is easy to come by. They have a much larger coverage of all things Hawkeyes than the Strib and PP combined do (and I've been fairly pleased recently in their coverage). You'll also have a much higher chance of positive coverage by these outlets, which helps perception of the program(s).
- Going back to point #1 - funding, whether gov't supported or private fundraising, a reasonably college town (or state with no NFL team) gets the lion's share of donations and support. Money has proven to be key in keeping facilities up to date, building new ones, etc to attract the top talent and coaches.
- The national media tips the scales for viewers and tickets towards pro sports simply because they are seen as a better product. They (most notably the NFL and MLB) have been run as efficient businesses for quite some time with a hefty investment in public relations to make people believe they are the top game in town in every angle from in-game atmosphere to viewing experience to quality of play on the field. This means that simply having a pro team in your area doesn't just cut your potential fans in half, it naturally gives a minimum 65/35 advantage, in my opinion.
- Larger markets, as evidenced by MSP and Chicago among many others, are made up of a diverse population. This includes people who attended rival universities (see Iowa and Wisc alums in the area) as well as other smaller school whose alums don't feel tied to the university in the big city (they already have their own). In our case we've got tons of UMD, St Cloud, NDSU, UND, Mankato, and other schools represented here, all of which have competed with our school in at least one sport if not more. This cuts away the number of people who could ever be in the range of mild to die-hard fans of the U.
- People have pointed it out before, but schools in major media markets recently got together to share ideas on how to compete in that environment. There is obviously a recognized issue with that particular situation.

I do think that a large portion of the U's struggles come from lack of spend and focus on athletics in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. I also think the marketing of our programs has been lackluster (they even squandered an awesome opportunity with the new stadium when compared to Target Field, for example). Lastly, we've made some bonehead hires and fires. That said, I can't believe someone would argue that being competitive in a major market has its definite challenges compared to middle-sized cities where the school is the only name in town.
"

If anyone doesn't see the correlation between the Vikings being in town and the rise of the NFL as by far the most popular sport in America and the decline of Gopher football, they are crazy. Yes, there have been many factors that have helped this along the way, but one of the major issues the U, team, etc faced was a dwindling number of fans, pressure by the locals who had no "tie" to the U, and the media to do better.

Whoever talked about there being 3Mil people in MSP area.. yes that's true. In 1960, there were 1.6 million. That's a lot less, and a LOT fewer had access to cars to get to locations, nor did people have as much discretionary spend at that time. Splitting the market from Gophers-only to Gophers + Twins + Vikings in the early 60s played a huge part in losing many fans and potential fans. Also keep in mind that the early 60s to 70s saw a huge increase in the number of televisions and the quality of content. But what sports took advantage of this? NFL was on TV FAR more often than college football, Gophers included. This had a mental effect - capturing the interest of casual fans simply because they were on the TV and the Gophers weren't (being helped by the marketing machine the NFL was in the 70s).

I'd also argue that having a college program in the same town/market as a pro team has a separate effect - if the university does a bad job marketing the differences (advantages) of a college gameday vs pro, then fans see it as simply another sporting event. It's just another option in my playbook, as a fan, to spend my time/money on, and I pick the one that is the most interesting at the time (winning the most). The fact that we even shared a venue with the 2 other biggest teams helped reinforce that in people's minds.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Denver_Gopher]

I live in Denver and we have a similar issue here, yet somewhat more difficult. The Broncos are the top team in town with three college teams within an hour of downtown. While Air Force has the advantage of all the military, CU and CSU only do well attendance wise when they are doing well. In major cities with both pro and college teams, the pro team is the major attraction and the college team needs to win to get better support. That being said, the Gophers need to win to obtain more fans. It is as simple as that.

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

You can't draw well without winning. You can't win without recruiting suitable talent. You can't recruit suitable talent without drawing well. ad infinitum.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

Anybody that says the Vikings have no affect on the state of Gopher football is playing with a half a deck. The State and the city of Minneapolis wilted under the pressure of the NFL, not wanting to lose face on a national level of the possibility the " Little Darlings" moving to L.A.
It is really rather sickening when you think of the gutless officials in the city/state. My wish is that the "Little Darlings" 9th wonder of the world turns into a glorified parking lot after 5 years with the main attraction being the monster truck rallies and dirt bike events

 

[GRGOPHER]

The article is absolutely correct. Shama isn't saying that without the Vikings the Gophers will be guaranteed to win at a big time level, and with them they are guaranteed to be stuck in mediocrity. But it makes it MORE DIFFICULT due to the many points he made.

Some on this board dismiss all of this Vikings talk as "you think the Vikings hurt the Gophers - therefore, this must be the only reason in your mind why the Gophers suck." Baloney.

Thinking the Vikings are the only reason for the Gophers demise is just as dumb as claiming the Vikings presence has no effect whatsoever on the Gophers.

S

A big plus one. In outstate Minnesota, the Viking's are Minnesota's team, not the gophers. They don't have bar specials for Gopher fb games...but every little bar has one up here for the Vikings. People don't talk about driving down to Gopher FB games, they drive down to watch the Vikings.

It's interesting the naysayers talk about enough money to go around for both, but they forget the "emotional cost" of being a fan of one or the other. Fans "get into" their teams, and while the Vikings have bad seasons, there's so much pressure from fans that management responds. We have had so many years of bad Gopher fb teams that only a "few" of us care anymore about the Gophs sucking and thus there is no longer the pressure there used to be to win.

But things can change, and a visionary President and a good coach could get us back on the right track and convert some fan's back to the Gophs. I'm thinking I see the light at the end of the tunnel....but guess I should emotionally brace myself in case it's the train.

 

[Ben Nelsen]

Stupid article. The Gophers have a low profile in this area because they've been average or bad for basically 50 years. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Vikings. Gopher football is treated no different by the fans in this town than any of the other sports teams. T-Wolves, Wild, and Twins all have trouble drawing well when they are losing. Throw in the move to the Metrodome and the University's overall 'don't care about winning football' attutude and this is what ends up happening. The Vikings are in no way hurting the Gophers chances of succeeding on the field or in winning over the fans in this area. The 'U' is solely to blame.

The Twins had 99 losses last season. They currently have the worse record in the MLB right now. Yet as I'm typing this Target Field is filled against a bad Oakland A's that no one cares about. It was the same way yesterday, Saturday afternoon, and Friday night.

The Twinkies and Vikings consume about 90% of the average sports fan's attention in Minnesota. Growing up in the suburbs, I rarely heard about any other team unless they were having an exceptional season. Even at the university, I'd say far more students watch the Vikes on tv in the dorms/apartments/houses than watch Gopher games (live or on tv). To compete with them, the Gophers are going to need to have a string of winning seasons and develop stars that become household names throughout the state like Puckett/Mauer/Morneau/Peterson/Moss/Carter.

 

[westcoastgopher11]

Minnesota sports fans are very fair weather regardless. I don't doubt that if the University of Minnesota was in say Rochester, that they could pull in better crowds because it would be the only show in town.

If Minnesota ever wants to be treated as one of the big boys it has to start acting like a grown up, and that means coming out to support the team regardless of record and replacing apathy with pressure. What does it help our teams to not show up when they are losing? Does it "punish" them to send a message? No, its embarrassing and self defeating to abandon the team when times aren't good. If you see a sold out stadium every weekend though people will demand better performance because that's what expectations are.